Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed presented his first budget Friday — a $558 million plan that includes funding for 100 new police officers and gives police a 3.5% raise.
“We cannot afford to make public safety anything less than a top priority,” Reed told the City Council in a transmittal letter. “Government has no greater responsibility than to keep its citizens safe, and our residents and business owners have spoken loudly about their desire for a secure city.”
Though Reed’s budget does not increase property taxes, it is a $17 million increase over the current budget.
In addition to new police officers, the spending plan also increases the budgets of 11 departments out of 15.
Reed’s spending plan is supported by increases in various fees and the anticipated sale or lease of the city’s detention center to Fulton County.
It also asks the council to increase business and alcohol license fees for another $7 million.
The budget proposed by Reed eliminates 107 positions, dropping the total workforce to 3,897.
The budget contemplates the use of existing or new bond proceeds for $254.2 million of city projects, including renovations to city hall, various roads, and others, as well as the refinancing of existing variable-rate bonds.
The Department of Watershed Management and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport may also have bond-financed projects, but they were not detailed in the budget document submitted to the council.
The council has until June 30 to adopt the budget.
